


Bittersweet Melodies

by SansThePacifist



Series: Naruto Stories [36]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Attempted Strangling, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Cliffhangers, Fix-it (more like mess it up), Foreshadowing, Gen, Good Uchiha Obito, I had writers block for ththe longest time omg, I think Zetsu is more crazy in this than in canon, Obito tries, Panic Attacks, This is angst kiro & tomi, Uchiha Obito Lives, Uchiha Obito-centric, What-If's, Zetsu is too strong for him, but vague, can be read alone but itd be confusing, like.. angst angst, lol, part of a series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-05 17:12:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18833083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SansThePacifist/pseuds/SansThePacifist
Summary: Obito barely managed to jump out of the way in time, dodging an attack from behind. How did he get there so quickly? Shunshin? No, he saw no hand signs and felt no movement. He flared his chakra as he rolled onto his feet but felt nothing except nature.Some sort of plant chakra? No, only Lord First had anything of the sort and he was long gone.





	Bittersweet Melodies

Naruto was missing.

He was missing.

Kushina had nearly lost her mind while searching for her child but Obito felt as if someone had shoved a cube of ice into his chest.

Naruto was missing.

He tried not to think about the whispers he heard when Minato was irritated, the conversations he eavesdropped about children vanishing one by one and never coming back.

Naruto wouldn't… He couldn't.

Obito slid to the floor, the wall behind him the only support that kept him from falling over.

He pulled his knees to his chin, his hands to his temples- gripping, pulling at his hair- and tried not to scream.

 

The ANBU found him and stood in silence, as if waiting for Obito to become stable enough for whatever they wanted to say.

It took a while, but eventually they talked.

 

“Sandaime-sama,” He wheezed, queasy from the unprepared shunshin, from the feeling of lost breath, “You called?”

“Why, Uchiha-kun,” Hiruzen said, smiling thinly, “Have a seat. We have much to discuss, soldier.” _Uchiha-kun._ He felt sick knowing that he was only called that because he was the last one left in the line of duty. He sat anyways. “I am sure you've been made aware that Uzumaki-san has been sent after her son, yes?” Obito nodded mutely. “And you worry?”

He hesitated before whispering a quiet confirmation.

“I see.” The Hokage exhaled smoke and set down the pipe, “Then I am sure you will take this next mission with no objections?”

 

He ran.

He ran for as long as he could before his legs got too weak and then ran again. He followed the trails that Kushina had barely left behind and eventually came to a cave, pieces of shattered rock around it, as if someone had exploded the entrance.

He didn't doubt for a second that was what Kushina had done, either through battle or pure will, and followed the destruction.

 

Blood.

The familiar stench of metal was the first thing he smelt and then the first he saw, staining the earth. He quickened his pace, still careful not to step on anything, and eventually found her.

He never really thought that Kushina's hair was the same color of blood, instead it was the color of the sun when a fire was near, the color of small cherries and plums after they had ripened, of tomatoes and the sweet treats she liked to make when the year was coming to an end.

"No," He breathed, standing frozen as he stared, "No..!"

It.. It couldn't be real. Kushina was stronger than anyone else he knew- How could- How _could-_

"Kushina!" Obito screamed, eyes hurting-hurting-hurting so, so much, "No.." He begged quietly, suddenly right beside her, "No, no, no..! Kushina- please- wake up!"

His cheeks were cold.

"KUSHINA!"

He fell to his knees, reaching forward hesitantly.

Dead. She was dead. Everyone was dead. He felt like screaming, laughing, crying all at once, curling in on himself with shaky breaths.

A weak cough, disrupted by the thickness of blood, snapped him away from his trail of thought, suddenly the only thing he could focus on. He opened his eyes- he didn't remember closing them- and tried to ignore the pain that leaked onto his cheek, sliding with purpose. He bowed his head and tried not to let himself cry, limbs numb and nails digging into his skin as he hugged himself.

"Oh thank the sage- _Kushina-_ you're alive," He choked on his words, "you're alive..!" His shoulders trembled as he tried to convince himself that the blood was normal, that it wouldn't matter until he had finished the mission.

She was alive and Naruto was still missing, that was all that mattered.

He.. He had to help her first, before he could continue his search for Naruto. It wasn't what he wanted to do, he wanted to leave her to a Iryo-nin and keep going, but he was the only one sent on the mission and Hokage-sama ordered that whoever was found first would be taken care of if injured.

 

He managed to treat most of her wounds, the minor ones healing much quicker than his own, and sat by her side until the blood on his fingers dried and her breathing stabilized.

The silence was interrupted by the footsteps of a pale man that smelled like grass, wearing the same cloak as the Rogue he had seen a few months back.

The man's face twisted into a joyful smile, his other half- excluding the eye, which seemed to glow- hidden by shadows.

“Look! We have guests!”

**“Quiet, they're enemies.”**

“Guests are guests, can we kill them?”

“We need the Kyuubi first.”

“You're no fun!” He stared as the man stepped forward- his side was still dark- and felt his gut twist. “Which one was the Kyuubi again?”

“Hey!” He snapped, “I don't know who you are or why you're looking for a giant fox _in a cave,_ but leave us alone!”

**“He's loud.”**

“It's rude to interrupt conversations!” The man seemed to be amused by something, tilting his head with a smile that only seemed to get more threatening with each second. “It was the one with the red hair, right?” The man snapped his fingers. “I get it, I get it! How about we kill the man and then capture the Kyuubi?”

Oh.

**“That was the plan.”**

 

Obito barely managed to jump out of the way in time, dodging an attack from behind. How did he get there so quickly? Shunshin? No, he saw no hand signs and felt no movement. He flared his chakra as he rolled onto his feet but felt nothing except nature.

Some sort of plant chakra? No, only Lord First had anything of the sort and he was long gone.

The man swiped at his knee, snapping him out of his thoughts, and Obito jumped backwards.

Right, no time to think.

Swipe, kick, dodge, kick.

He looked towards where Kushina continued to lay- thankfully- and deemed the gap between them enough. He took a deep breath, held his fingers near his mouth, and blew. Fire lit the darkness of cave, flooding the entirety of what was in front of him and folding back at the edges.

 **“Uchiha,”** The man hissed, **“I thought they were dead.”**

“Oh! Our guest is a Uchiha?” Shit. He spun on his heel and kicked the man in the face.

 

A root tripped him when he tried to take a step back, he stumbled but couldn't regain grip. His fall had snuffed some of the remains of fire but the heated ground made his skin feel like it was burning.

He was so stupid, thinking that fire would help in a cave against an unknown enemy.

The man giggled, swiftly wrapping his hands around Obito’s neck and pushing down.

 

_Hiruzen sighed, slouching with the resignation of a man who had learned to choose his battles, and massaged his forehead._

_“Putting my status as Hokage aside,” The old man said, “I feel you should be made aware that you are one of the only people that Kushina-san has left. If she were to lose both of you…”_

 

The academy teaches briefly about strangulation, how to escape certain grips, how to play possum against inexperienced characters. Yet, he didn't do any of that. Instead he kicked and kicked and tried to push the man away. It didn't works.

It didn't…

 

“What is going on here?” Obito's vision swam as the pressure on his throat was finally removed. He clumsily pushed himself away from the man, covering his throat and breathing heavily.

“Madara-sama! Look at we found!”

 **“We were taking out the trash.”** He coughed harshly, trying to ignore the slight wheeze to it.

“We don't strangle guests, it takes too long.” Why was that voice familiar? Why..? He opened his eyes and tried to blink away the blurriness.

“Kushina...” He coughed, pushing himself to his feet. Was she alright?

Where was she again?

 

_“She would lose herself.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to join the discord for this story! It's not very big, but I would love to meet the readers and get any suggestions!  
> The invite is; https://discord.gg/wsyVDWr


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